Temptation
by jewelledhunter
Summary: Legolas meets Frodo right before Frodo heads to Mordor. What would they say to each other? Slightly AU.


AN: Don't own LOTR. Scream at me, fangirls, but I liked the idea. I know that Legolas has no way of finding Frodo, but please…just let me off once (I'm a rabid Tolkien fan, so I know what I am doing). The conversation with Aragorn never happened; just like in the book, Aragorn found out by talking to Boromir. Argh, I'm really becoming a Legolas fan…not Orlando Bloom…Legolas.

* * *

Frodo turned around, the sounds of the Uruk-Hai's iron-clad feet hitting the ground nearly driving him crazy. Where to run? He dashed swiftly past some trees and sat right behind one tree.

"Frodo!" Frodo turned his head. Merry. Why did he have to do this? The Ring seemed to weigh him down again as he looked as his cousin.

"Hide here! Come on!" Pippin said frantically. Frodo shook his head. Pippin stared and turned to Merry. "What's he doing?" Meriadoc Brandybuck's face was lit…with understanding.

"He's leaving."

"No!" Pippin said loudly. He got out of his hiding place, followed by Merry.

"Pippin! Run, Frodo, go!" Merry gave Frodo a piercing look. Frodo nodded and got up, the Ring waving in front of his eyes as he started running. Merry's voice echoed over, "Hey you! Over here!"

Frodo continued to run to the shore. Suddenly, leaves crunched. Frodo jumped, his nerves shocked. Legolas. He brushed aside a strand of hair.

"Frodo!" Legolas cried, coming over to the hobbit. Frodo's eyes widened.

"Legolas!" Frodo gasped. "Boromir."

"What?" Legolas stopped walking towards Frodo.

"Get away from me! I can't trust anyone. Boromir, he has submitted." Frodo muttered. The Ring dangled around his neck still, muttering ominously. Legolas' eyes were riveted on the Ring.

"But Frodo," Legolas looked around. "Where is Merry and Pippin? Sam?"

"I do not know!" Frodo said anxiously. "But Legolas, tell me. Would you take the Ring if given the choice?"

The Ring whispered ominously. "Legolas…grandson of Oropher…"

Legolas could feel the Ring pulling at his mind. He could take the throne of Mirkwood. He could seal their victory against the Dark Lord. He could save Mirkwood and Lothlorien, which even now, he could feel, were being threatened by Sauron! Legolas shook his head. He was an Elf. Just an Elven prince. The Ring should not hold sway over him.

It was so tempting though… The Eye of Sauron seemed to fill his vision. He blinked warily, feeling the burn of the Dark Lord's gaze. He winced, trying to back away. But the cat-like slit loomed in front of him and he couldn't help but stare back.

"Prince of Mirkwood…I robbed your grandfather of immortality and I shall do the same to you!" Legolas wildly turned away, the world spinning before him. Frodo was in his line of sight again. The Ring! Perhaps if he took it, he could save his father and himself from the fate that Sauron promised him. Frodo couldn't do this!

He growled un-elvishly in frustration. The Ring was tormenting him. Sunlight played across the golden band. Finally, his head stopped swimming. He found himself on his knees, in front of Frodo.

"I cannot," Legolas said softly, standing up. "I cannot. Even if I desired it. If I took it upon me, then I will remember with each step I take that the maker of this Ring killed my grandfather. I cannot." Frodo smiled warily.

"But you understand? Do you? I have no choice. The Ring will drive everyone in the Fellowship mad if I stay. Maybe even Pippin and Merry, although I cannot imagine it," Frodo's eyes seemed to stare far off, into distant lands. Legolas put a hand on Frodo's shoulder.

"You see far, Frodo. You are almost…Elvish. Strange for a hobbit," Legolas said quietly. "I understand. Everyone in the Fellowship, even Boromir, would have followed you to the end. But as you said, we cannot," Legolas looked up. His ears caught the sound of pounding footsteps. Uruk-Hai.

"Frodo, run! Namarië! Good luck," Legolas pushed Frodo gently and the hobbit ran as fast as he could. Legolas turned and continued to run where he had been running to. Towards Estel, to help him fend off the Orcs.

* * *

The Horn of Gondor echoed through the forest. Legolas sprang lightly to his feet, followed by a huffing Gimli. The two ran towards the horn's fading blasts. There was the sound of iron hitting iron and a savage cry, probably from an Orc. When the two arrived, Aragorn was leaning over Boromir. Aragorn kissed Boromir's forehead, as if blessing the Gondorian, and looked up.

"Dead?" Gimli whispered. Aragorn nodded.

"He died, defending the hobbits."

"Why would he die? He was an honorable man; he had no reason to not call for help at the last minute," Gimli said loudly.

"He felt sorry. He tried taking the Ring from Frodo," Legolas said quietly. Aragorn gave Legolas a piercing look.

"What?" Gimli burst out.

"How do you know?" Aragorn asked harshly.

"Frodo talked to me," Legolas said shortly, searching for arrows among the bodies. "He told me about how Boromir tried to take the Ring."

"Where are the hobbits?" Gimli said, always the practical one.

"Boromir did not say whether all the hobbits were taken, or just Merry and Pippin," Aragorn said.

"We cannot allow Boromir to lie here," Legolas murmured, watching the peaceful face of the Steward's Heir.

"We will take a boat. Put him and his weapons in it, as well as the weapons of his foes," Gimli said, his voice filled with veneration.

* * *

Aragorn and Legolas stared across the shore, Boromir's boat floating over the falls. Gimli was trying frantically to push the last boat into the water.

"You! Elf! Aragorn! Let's go!" Gimli said gruffly, pushing. He looked up and saw the determination and resignation in both of their faces. "We are not going after them."

"The fate of the Ring-bearer is no longer in our hands," Aragorn said, turning away from the eastern shore. Legolas' keen elven eyes could see the burning determination in Frodo's eyes as he and his friend, Sam, climbed up the shore.

"We no longer can be tempted," Legolas whispered as he too turned away.

"The Fellowship has failed," Gimli muttered.

"No." Aragorn smiled. "No, not when we remain loyal to each other. We will not abandon Merry and Pippin to torment and death! Not while we have strength left. Leave all behind that we can spare. Let's go hunt some Orc." Gimli's grin broadened.

"Yes!"

As the three ran off, Legolas turned around one last time. "Farewell, Frodo."

* * *

"I'm glad you're with me, Sam," Frodo smiled as they looked. The fires of Mt. Doom flickered and the Eye of Sauron cast about its searching glare, looking for the one who bore the Ring. Yet, as Mordor seemed to grin maliciously at them, Frodo could feel a faint glimmer of hope.

Yes, maybe Boromir had submitted. But he was a valiant man. And Frodo somehow knew, in his heart, that the son of Gondor will soon regret his actions. Merry and Pippin were still loyal to him and Sam was traveling with him, being the wonderful friend he was.

Aragorn, being the child of Luthien and Beren, was probably not going to submit either. He was brought up in Rivendell and knew clearly the threats of trying to possess the Ring. Gimli. He was a Dwarf! If he desired a Ring of Power, it would be one of the Dwarven Rings of Power, to make gold. But those were destroyed. And didn't Galadriel say, "Then, I shall say of you, Gimli son of Gloin, that gold shall flow from your hands, and yet gold shall have no dominion over you?"

But Legolas provoked the most thought. The look of desire and resistance that had run through Legolas' azure eyes as he saw the Ring…as Frodo offered it to him. But the Elf was strong. Probably Aragorn or even Gandalf (Frodo choked) would have done the same. But his words.

_I cannot. Even if I desired it. If I took it upon me, then I will remember with each step I take that the maker of this Ring killed my grandfather. I cannot._

His grandfather? Oropher? Frodo flashed on a memory of Elrond telling him of the valiant Oropher…who had died in the battle of the Last Alliance against Mordor. The same battle in which Gil-Galad burned in the hands of the Dark Lord, Elendil fell against Sauron, and Isildur cut the One Ring from Sauron's finger.

Frodo clutched the One Ring briefly as Sauron's voice echoed around him. The Quest will be dangerous.

But how dangerous? Even Frodo could not predict it. Guided by Gollum, their treacherous guide, Sam and Frodo went to Mt. Doom, encountering Faramir. Faramir, who had resisted the Ring. Then, the two continued and Frodo lost his finger to Gollum as he fought Gollum over the Ring. The Quest was not in vain.

And as Pippin, Merry, Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, and Gandalf fought against Mordor, continiously, their thoughts strayed to Frodo. The hobbit that held Middle-Earth in his small hands.

But Legolas, the only immortal of the entire Fellowship, always remembered the brave hobbit, staring wide-eyed at him, asking, "Would you take the Ring? Would you be brave enough…to resist?"

* * *

AN: Ah…I've gotten rid of the plot bunny! 


End file.
